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Search warrants detail evidence taken in case of dad accused of killing 5 children

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Updated: 1:14 PM EDT Oct 6, 2014

Timothy Jones Jr.: Accused of killing his 5 children

Search warrants detail evidence taken in case of dad accused of killing 5 children

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Updated: 1:14 PM EDT Oct 6, 2014

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS-TV) —

Many personal items, as well as records for electronic devices, were obtained by law enforcement investigators in the case of Timothy Jones, Jr., the man accused of killing his five children, according to search warrants obtained by WIS-TV.

Jones was arrested in Smith County, Mississippi, during a traffic checkpoint. Mississippi law enforcement became suspicious of Jones when they realized he and his five children were listed as missing in the National Crime database. The children were not with Jones at the time of the traffic checkpoint.

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Police later found the bodies of his five children in Alabama, where Jones allegedly dumped their bodies in bags off of a country road. Jones is now facing five counts of murder in Lexington County, where investigators believe he killed his children at the end of August.

WIS-tv obtained search warrants for the case dating back to Sept. 7, after filing a Freedom of Information Act request with the Lexington County Sheriff's Department. The 42-page document includes warrants filed by detectives with the LCSD, as well a warrant filed by the State Law Enforcement Division.

The warrants show several items taken from the Jones family home, 2155B S. Lake Drive in Lexington, which could include anything located at the entrances to the home, all vehicles and any outbuildings located on the property.

Items sought through the warrant is anything that could have harmed the five children – Abigail, Gabriel, Nahtahn, Elias and Merah Jones. In addition, the warrants allowed investigators to retrieve any items from the home that could have tracked Jones' movements, any electronic devices and other evidence like clothing, blood and saliva, among others.

Items removed from the home include:

• Photos

• Two hair brushes

• Four toothbrushes

• One set of Ninja Turtles bed linens

• One set of bed linens from a crib

• Two Sippy cups

• One "Woody" doll in pieces

• One notebook and pen

• One pacifier

• Five belts

• One black phone

Several Lexington County search warrants mention that during a search of Jones' 2006 Cadillac Escalade in Mississippi, officers found a "significant amount of bleach products – aroma – along with blood inside Jones' vehicle." Documents were also found in Jones' Escalade that show a purchase from Wal-Mart, "where items consistent with destruction and disposal of human remains were purchased." Investigators later confirmed Jones' purchase by obtaining video surveillance from a Wal-Mart store.

Detectives also received search warrants for AT&T and T-Mobile cell phone records for Jones' phone. The records were to include calls received and made, GPS locations, and tower locations for roaming calls and text or data usage from Aug. 1, 2013, to Sept. 7, 2014. These search warrants also asked for detailed subscriber information and details for how long calls lasted.

There were also two search warrants regarding Jones' email accounts – one for a Gmail account and the other for a GMX account – to review sent, deleted and unread emails from Aug. 28, 2013, to Sept. 8, 2014. Other search warrants included the gathering of any data discovered from Jones' Escalade's OnStar system, his Amazon Kindle, and a Sony portable e-reader.

Certain information was redacted in the search warrants WIS received, per a judge's order regarding search warrants, according to Melissa Taylor, a paralegal for LCSD's attorney. Taylor also told WIS that because of the recently approved gag order, no other documents regarding the Jones case will be released to the media.

To follow-up with the allegations that DSS in Mississippi was notified by South Carolina's DSS agency, WIS also filed a Freedom of Information Act request with Mississippi DSS for any case file available on the Jones children. That FOIA request was denied.

"After reviewing the request and relevant law, the court decided that the MDHS does not have the authority to release any records regarding the Jones DFCS case," wrote Julia Bryan, public information officer with Mississippi Department of Human Services. "The agency will adhere to the judge's opinion on this matter and must decline to release any records that may be associated with the case. MDHS files and any youth court records are confidential under Mississippi Law and may not be released unless an exception applies."